Wichita chef takes lion meat off special menu

Wichita chef Jason Febres says he didn't mean to offend anyone when he added lion meat to an exotic, $160-a-plate dinner. But the loud voices of the Internet clamoring for his restaurant, Taste & See, to take lion meat off the menu won out, reports the Wichita Eagle.

On his Facebook page Friday night, Febres wrote: “We did took a second look ... and realized that yes, it can be a little shocking and disturbing for some people. ... I did felt touched and didn’t mean to offend anybody so I decided to make it right and substitute the Lion course.”

A Change.org petition garnered more than 10,500 signatures (up from 3,800 when we wrote about the issue Friday), and animal rights group Born Free USA also complained loudly. Febres said the groups were spreading misinformation about the origins of the lion meat; he said the lions are raised on an American farm, not the African plains.

The dinner, set for Tuesday is sold out. And while lion meat is no longer on the menu, diners will still get to try Scottish wild hare, Indian alpaca, Australian crocodile and African water buffalo and antelope.